Loving Innocence
by RubyMstar
Summary: Sakura and Syaoran are childhood friends, but Syaoran has been ignoring Sakura ever since he got a grilfriend. Sakura's sad but meets Ryu, Syaoran's cousin, and become friends instantly. My first story, please R&R.
1. Innocet Meeting

_**RubyMstar** Hi! This is my first attempt at writing a story so please, read it and let me know if its any good. Oh, and I don't own CCS sniff. _

_**Sakura**_

Sakura sniffed as she threw another pebble into the sea, and started making her way home. She had been there for over an hour, waiting, and he didn't even think to call me until now. _'How could he be so mean! We've spent our birthdays together since we were 3 years old, and now he doesn't have time for me because **she** wanted to introduce him to her family.'_

She realized that she was crying as she felt the wetness on her cheek. She stopped in front of a park and made her way around all the screaming and laughing children to the back where the park stopped and a forest began. She sat under a cherry blossom tree where no one could see her and kept crying. _'I haven't seen him in over 3 weeks, he spends all his time with his stupid girlfriend.' _She sat there for a long time just crying over losing her best friend. Her tears were just stopping when a hand appeared in front of her, holding a handkerchief.

"Here," a male voice said, " You look like you need it."

**_Ryu_**

Ryu walked through the park with his hands in his pockets smiling as he watched all the children playing and laughing. He picked up the ball that had rolled over to him and gave it back to the child, and winked at the little girl with his sparkling azure eyes. The girl laughed and thanked him before running off to play again.

Ryu continued walking towards the forest at the back of the park where he had found a very interesting place yesterday. He had been coming here for nearly a week now since his cousin was busy with his girlfriend. Ryu had come all the way from Hong Kong to Japan just to celebrate his cousin's birthday but his cousin apparently wanted to spend the time with his girlfriend and her family instead. He wouldn't have minded so much if Syaoran's girlfriend was worth it but Ryu couldn't help feeling that she was giving of the wrong vibes. Syaoran obviously liked her but Ryu couldn't help thinking that Syaoran only saw how beautiful she was. He shook the thoughts from his head though, '_Syaoran is smarter than that,' _he told himself '_he wont fall for someone because of how she looks…I hope,'_

He started to enter the forest but stopped as he heard someone crying, so he followed the heartbreaking sound. He saw a girl sitting under a cherry blossom tree with her knees drawn up to her chest and her face buried. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and held it out to the girl. "Here," he said, "You look like you need it."

The girl looked up, first at the handkerchief, then traveling slowly up his arm to his face. He was surprised at the startling color of her eyes as she stared at him. He studied her, at first glance she wasn't much to look at but if you looked over that, you would realize that she was very pretty. She looked like she was 16 and had white as snow skin with rosy cheeks and her eyes were big but were set perfectly in her heart shaped face. She was wearing sweat pants and a sweatshirt too big for her.

He realized that he was still staring and was being rude, so he smiled at her again and gestured for her to take the handkerchief. She shook her head though and sniffed again, "Take it," he said, " A pretty girl like you shouldn't be seen with tears on her face."  
She smiled at that but shook her head again and said, "Daddy told me to never take things from a stranger." He was surprised at that, and nearly laughed at how much she sounded like his little 5-year-old cousin, but that would have been rude.  
Instead he said, " My name is Ryu, what's yours?" 

"I'm Sakura."

Ryu grinned, "See? We're not strangers anymore are we? I know who you are and you know who I am. So take it" He tried to hand her the handkerchief again. She just stared at him before smiling brilliantly and took the kerchief. "Why were you crying? You looked really sad."

She just looked down, and didn't answer. He looked at her thoughtfully, and decided that he would show her his special place since it had her namesake, and maybe it would make her feel better. He didn't know why he cared so much but she had such innocence around her that he felt like he had to make her feel better. "Would you like to come with me? I have a special place I want to show you."

She looked at him doubtfully and said "Onii-chan said that he would beat up any guy that I go near. I don't want you to get hurt." He smiled at her innocent words and said, "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I just want to make you feel better." He held out his hand to her, she took it smiling, and let him help her up.

He started to walk into the forest again, but Sakura's grip on his hand tightened "Hoeeeeeeeeeeeee! W-we're g-going in t-there!" she asked her voice trembling, he looked at her in surprise and nodded. "B-But Onii-chan said that the forest is h-haunted!"

Ryu grinned, "You're brother sounds like and interesting fellow, I'd like to meet him. Don't worry, I'll protect you from the ghosts okay?"

"Okay," she said in a small voice, her small hand clutching his even tighter. And together they made their way into the forest.


	2. Innocent Suprises

_**RubyMstar **Hello again everyone! Thank you so much to simplyxkitty, Viky, and Shadow Nightress for reading and reviewing my story here's chapter 2!_

**Sakura**

Sakura shivered as she stared out into the shadowy darkness, the deeper they got into the woods the larger the trees got, all light had almost disappeared. She was terrified! She jumped at every small sound and her tiny hand was still clutching his hand. "Are you s-sure you know w-where we are?" She asked stumbling over her words.

"Of course I do," he assured her, "I came here just yesterday. See, I marked the way." He pointed at one of the trees where there was a button on a branch. "I pulled them of my jacket," he explained. She laughed and he couldn't help noticing how much it sounded like a tinkling bell. "And anyway, we're already here."

"Where?" she asked looking around. He walked over to a weeping willow which branches were thick and hanging low. She watched as he brushed them apart and his hand reached out to press on a stone lions head that was sticking out of a wall. Her beautiful eyes turned round as she watched a part of the stonewall open, the creaking cutting into the silence.

He bowed while holding the door open for her, " After you," he said. She smiled and walked in, instantly she was knocked breathless. Her eyes were huge as she stared at the gorgeous place, speechless. It was amazing! It had to be the most perfect place on earth, brought strait down from heaven. The whole place wasn't too big, the size of a baseball field, but the beauty was breathtaking, magnificent, spectacular, and even those words couldn't capture its beauty.

First of all, the pond itself was stunning, it was right in the middle of the whole place, the water was sparkling because of the sunlight, and once in a while you would see a goldfish jump right out of the water, its scales glittering. Not only the fish but also lily pads were strewn all over the water. There was a pretty wood bridge that stretched comfortably across the pond to the other side, there were vines twisted around the railings in a lazy manner. The same vines were on the walls, gently twisting around each other, but these vines had white and purple Jasmine flowers growing on them.

There were also beautiful cherry blossom trees everywhere, gently swaying in the wind, its petals scattered everywhere, and floating lightly on top of the water. There were also a lot of different kinds of flowers, roses, blue bells, orchids, daises, dendrobiums, and a lot more. And flying everywhere chattering loudly were birds of every color, and gorgeous butterfly's fluttering softly. The aromas in the air from the flowers were calm and serene. It was an enchanting place.

"Oh! This is wonderful!" she looked at him her eyes pleading "May I?" He smiled, nodding. She squealed happily and ran in joyfully.

**Ryu**

He laughed as he watched her twirl happily under one of the cherry blossom trees. She then ran onto the bridge and looked over, giggling as a fish leaped into the air, splashing her with water. "Look Ryu!" she called "There's fishes!" She ran onto the other side of the bridge and knelt, sniffing one of the roses. "Mmmm, they smell fantastic." He sat under a tree and watched her explore the place, delighting in each new discovery. _'I knew it was right to bring her here.' _he thought smiling.

Her face suddenly appeared in front of him her face showing none of the sadness from before. "Thank you for bringing me here." She said shyly, " I love it." He grinned at her, "I thought you would." He was surprised when she hugged him but he huggedher back. "How did you find it?" she asked him pulling back and sitting next to him.

"I was just exploring when I ran smack into a wall with a lion on it" he said wincing, "It hurt, but this place is worth it. Come on, I bought some fish food with me today so we can feed them." He said getting up. "Yay!" he couldn't help laughing at how much she sounded like a 5-year-old. They stepped on to the bridge and their eyes widened. They just stood there in shock for a second, and then jumped apart like frightened rabbits.

_'What's going on?' _he thought, '_I could have sworn I felt an aura from her for a second.' _ He frowned, she was standing on the bridge now, and he wasn't. He stepped on it again and they both gasped. He narrowed his eyes, "Who are you?" he demanded, "I know you have magic and I can tell that you know I do too." She took a few steps back again and pulled something of her neck.

"Key of Clow 

_Power of Magic_

_Power of Light_

_Surrender the wand_

_The force Ignite_

_**Release!**"_

"Fly card! 

_Release and Dispell"_

He was stunned as he stared up at her hovering above him.


	3. Innocent Parting

_**RubyMstar** Hey! Thanks to the people who reviewed for my second chapter. Someone asked me to update faster, so I want to say sorry but I have a lot of homework these days, and I try my best so please be patient with me. Here's chapter 3!_

Ryu gasped as he stared at her hovering above him, he was astounded. As soon as she had called out the first incantation, her whole outfit had changed. She was now wearing a beautiful outfit that was white with pink on the edges of the hem, sleeves and the neckline. The dress reached her ankles where it stopped just to show the pretty white shoes and her sleeves ending right below her elbows. A pink bow was tied around her slim waist, and a mask covered her nose and her eyes, which looked down at him untrustingly.

"Don't move!" she said her voice trembling slightly "Who are you?"

"Li Ryu, and you must be the cards mistress." Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as soon as he mentioned the cards.

"How do you know about the cards-" she stopped suddenly and said, "Wait! Did you say Li? Are you related to the Li Clan by any chance?" When he nodded she visibly relaxed. "Then I suppose you know Li Syaoran." She smiled at his surprised face as she drifted down and landed on the bridge. "We are-" she stopped and said, "We _were_ friends."

He was curious but didn't pursue the subject. Instead he said "He happens to be my cousin, I came to visit him for his birthday, but he had other _plans_" She understood instantly what he meant but didn't pursue the subject either. She looked up at the sky suddenly and was surprised to see the sun disappearing.

"Oh! I should go home now, my family will get worried if I'm not home by dark." She smiled at him, "Thank you very much for bringing me here, it's a beautiful place. Would you mind if I came here again? It's so lovely I don't think I can stay away form here."

He grinned happily, "I don't mind, this place should be enjoyed. And you may want to get rid of the staff and all before you go, you don't want people to ask questions. Nice outfit by the way, but it would be hard to fight in if you want to defend yourself."

She smiled, "It's just an illusion, my friend Tomoyo, she designs all my clothes, thought of it. The Illusion card activates by itself whenever I release the sealing staff, and I have a different costume every time."

"I'd like to meet your friend Tomoyo some day, she sounds as interesting as your brother. Would you like me to take you home?"

"No thanks," she replied, "I don't want my brother to rip you apart. But can you help me out of the forest? I just know I'm going to get lost if I go by myself."

"Sure," and as soon as she had returned the sealing staff into a necklace, they made their way out of the forest with Sakura as terrified as before. They parted as soon as they got out of the park, going different ways. He still thought of her as he walked home slowly. _"She a very unique person, very different. I'd like to see her again, something about her keeps me interested. She has a spark to her, and innocence."_

Thoughts like this kept traveling thorough his mind as he walked home and started making dinner. He didn't notice much when his cousin came home, and went to sleep with a smile still thinking of the mesmerizing green eyes and the beautiful smile.


	4. Innocent Reunions

_RubyMstar Hi everyone! It's good to be back, it's spring break for me right now so I finally have a chance to continue writing! Yay!_

_Sakura POV_

Sakura's eye's fluttered open, but instantly closed them again as the bright sunlight streamed through her open window. She groaned as the alarm clock kept beeping loudly._ 'Stupid Touya must have come in and put my alarm clock across the room so I would have to get up.'_

Suddenly her eyes snapped open 'Today's the first day of school!' she panicked. She was out of bed and getting ready in just seconds, envious of Kero who was snoring peacefully in his mini bed inside one of her drawers. She rushed down stairs, gulped down her breakfast and was out the door with a quick "Good morning" and "Bye!" to her father and brother, the latter was smirking for some reason.

She raced down the road in her brand new roller blades, and was at school in no time. She was surprised to see that all the students were all outside the school talking to their friends and laughing. _'Shouldn't they be inside?'_ she though, _'The bell will_ _be ringing any minute.'_ She spotted Tomoyo who was waving to her, and made her way over to her grinning.

"Tomoyo-chan!" she laughed happily as she hugged her. "How was your trip to England?" Tomoyo had been in England for the whole summer vacation so Sakura was glad to see her again.

"It was great!" Tomoyo said, "I bought everyone back a souvenir. And guess who I bumped into there?" Tomoyo's eyes suddenly had a joyful sparkle in them.

"Who?"

"Hello Sakura-chan," came a voice behind her, Sakura whirled around and her eyes widened. She let out a shriek and hugged the person who was behind her.

"Eriol-kun! It is so good to see you again. What're you doing here?"

Eriol was smiling his usual smile as he hugged her back, "Well, when I was in England, I collided with Ms. Daidouji here. I decided I wanted to come back and visit my friends, so here I am."

"I'm glad you're back Eriol-kun!" Sakura said, " It's turning out to be a good year already."

"Hi guys!" they heard. The three of them turned to find Rika, Chiharu, Naoko, and Takashi coming towards them. "Eriol! What are you doing here?" Eriol told them what he told Sakura a minute ago and then Tomoyo handed out the souvenir's she bought for them.

"Thank you so much Tomoyo-can," Sakura said beaming, while holding the beautiful cherry blossom hairpin that she had just gotten. They all said their thank you's. Rika, Chiharu, and Naoko all got pretty hairpins too, with different kinds of flowers. Takashi got a green ring and Eriol got a blue one.

"Did you know," Takashi began, "that hairpins and rings started in Atlantis? They used to be electrical and were use as keys to open doors. Every hairpin opened a different door and they used to be electrical and were use as keys to open doors. Every hairpin opened a different door and-" he was cut of there as Chiharu bonked him on the head.

"Yes, yes, you can stop your lies now." She said, Eroil opened his mouth to continue where Takashi ended but did not say anything when Chiharu glared at him.

"Oh!" Sakura said suddenly, "How come the bell hasn't rung yet? It was already 7:50 when I left my house."

"What are you talking about Sakura-chan? It just turned 7:45 right now."

Tomoyo started to laugh, "Sakura-chan, did your brother reset your clock again?"

"Hoe! Not again! I could have slept a 10 minutes more!" Sakura pouted as her friends laughed. All of a sudden, someone tapped Sakura on the shoulder.

"Hoe?" Sakura turned around and found herself staring into Ryu's azure eyes.


	5. Innocent Revelations

RubyMstar I'm sooooooooo sorry that I took so long to update, I had finals at school, then I went on a trip as soon as vacation started. Please forgive me! I promise to update a lot more soon! I also decided to make my chapters longer since a lot of my reviewers asked me to. Have fun!

**_Chapter 5_**

"HOOOOOOEEEEEE!"

Everyone jumped as this shout was heard all over the front of the school. Most of them went back to what they were doing when they saw whom the scream came from, they were used to Sakura screaming like that.

Ryu jumped too, not expecting such a loud reaction. "Hello, Sakura-chan." He said smiling. Sakura's friends looked at him curiously, and he smiled at them too.

"Ryu-kun, are you coming to school here?" Sakura asked, astonished. "You never told me that!"

"I wasn't really planning to come here, I decided it at last minute. How have you been?"

"Fine, I'm so glad you choose to come here!" Her eyes widened suddenly, "Oh! I should introduce you to my friends. This is Takashi-kun, he tells many good stories, and knows a lot about history. Chiharu-chan is his girlfriend and she is the only one who can stop Takashi-kun when his stories get a bit…" she paused, trying to find the right words, "out of hand. Naoko-chan loves to read and is very good at grammar. Tomoyo-chan is good at everything, like cooking, sewing, studies, and she is a great listener. Rika-chan is just like Tomoyo-chan, she is good at everything. And Eriol-kun is-"

"Creepy," someone interrupted. Sakura whirled around and saw Syaoran, "Creepy is the word you're looking for." He continued.

"I'm hurt! My cute little descendent thinks I'm creepy, what is happening to this world?" Eriol exaggerated.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes, "I bet he's not the only one who thinks that," she murmured.

"Tomoyo-chan!" Eriol gasped in mock horror, then looked at her with hurt puppy dog eyes.

Sakura had to grin as she watched the two of them. They would make such a cute couple! She looked at Chiharu, Naoko, and Rika-chan to find that they were watching Tomoyo and Eriol with the same evil grins. The three of them looked back at Sakura and their grins widened. It was time to play matchmaker! Syaoran and Takashi saw their faces and winced, knowing what was going through their heads. "Leave me out of this," they said at the same time.

"Oh!" said Tomoyo-chan, " We forgot to introduce Syaoran-kun and Ryu-kun."

"No need for that" said Ryu, still smiling, "I already know him. He's my cousin."

"What!" exclaimed everyone except Syaoran, Ryu and Eriol at the same time.

"Yup!" Said Eriol happily; throwing his arm around Ryu's shoulders, "This is my other cute little descendent." Syaoran rolled his eyes and looked upward, pleadingly, like he was asking permission to kill Eriol.

Ryu just grinned, "Me and Eriol have known each other for a long time." He looked at Syaoran; "I can't believe that you're not used to him calling you that by now."

"It's too sinister to get used to. Whatever, I gotta go, Veronica's waiting for me." With that, Syaoran turned around a walked off to find her. All of his friends, except Sakura, wrinkled their noses as they heard his girlfriend's name. Sakura just looked sad, _'He didn't even say "hi" before he left.' _She thought sadly. Her friends, noticing her mood, exchanged glances, knowing what she was thinking.

"Hey Sakura, will you show me the way to the Principal's office, please? I don't know my way around, yet."

Sakura smiled at Ryu and nodded, "Sure." The two of them said goodbye to the others and walked into the school. "You know, you'll have to get your school uniform soon. Its just pants for the boys with white shirts and a coat on top. They all have a small design on them, with the words 'Tomodea High School' on them. The girls have skirts instead of pants though." She wrinkled her nose as she said the last part and he had to laugh at her cute face. At that second, she tripped over a book that someone left neer the top of a staircase, letting out a little squeak.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" he exclaimed anxiously, bending down next to her as she sat up.

"Oops! I guess I tripped again," she said, rubbing her small nose, and acting as if this happened to her all the time. He laughed at her, and helped her to her feet.

"You dropped your glasses."

She jumped and gave out a little squeak, "Oh no! I forgot about my glasses." She looked around saw that the glasses had fallen down the stairs. She hurried down the stairs and picked them up, checking to see that they were okay. He followed her looking surprised.

"How come you wear those glasses? You can see just fine, you spotted your glasses down here." Sakura blushed slightly, looking guilty.

"Um…Uh… Well, you see… Um…I'm near sighted! That's it, I just can't see things near me." She looked very proud of herself for coming up with a plausible lie. Ryu just raised an eyebrow.

"Sakura-chan, don't lie to me. Now, will you tell me the truth or do I have to go and ask your friends?"

She winced noticeably as she said glumly, and very quickly, "I like wearing glasses because I can hide my face behind them."

He was flabbergasted, "But why! You have such a pretty face, why do you try to hide it?" _'Especially those extravagant eyes,' _he thought to himself _'They're too beautiful to be hidden.'_

Sakura blushed at the comment, but then sighed, "Well, I didn't always wear the glasses, actually I only started in middle school. A lot of boys kept asking me out, it got really annoying after a while because they were following me where ever I went. Then, Syaoran told me that if it was so annoying, then I should cover up how pretty I look. So I did, I wore large glasses and," here she paused and tweaked at her uniform, which was a size too big, "I got a larger uniform. The boys did stop asking me out, but I was also labeled as a 'dork', not that I really care."

Ryu could see that the dork part didn't really bother her much, but her face had become became a little passive when she was talking about Syaoran. Ryu just shook his head, and let out an amused chuckle, "You really are something Sakura Kinomoto. I can't believe you changed your whole appearance just so a couple of boys would leave you alone."

She just smiled at him as they stopped at a door (A.N. They were walking while talking.) "Well this is the principals office, good luck! I better get to class though. See you later!" He waved goodbye to her as she left and then turned to knock on the principal's office.


End file.
